Title

Efficacy of Premature Infant Oral Motor Intervention on Oral feeding readiness among preterm neonates – A randomized controlled trial

Objective of the study

=  To determine the efficacy of Premature Infant Oral Motor Intervention (PIOMI) on oral feeding readiness among preterm neonates admitted in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

FoFormal permission for data collection will be obtained from Institutional Research Committee, Institutional Ethics committee, Medical Superintendent SAT Hospital Thiruvananthapuram and Head of the department, Neonatology. After getting informed consent from the parents investigator will select preterm neonates admitted in NICU who meet the eligibility criteria for the study and will be randomly allocated in to experimental and control group. The samples will be allocated equally by using block randomization with fixed block size of 4 in to two groups, experimental and control group. The preterm neonates in the experimental group will receive PIOMI for 15 minutes before the gavage feed, along with the routine nursing care 2 times daily using aseptic precautions. This process will be continued for maximum 14 days, when the baby reaches feeding readiness whichever is earlier. The control group will also receive routine care during the 14 days of the study. Both groups will be assessed from the 4^th day onwards till the achievement of oral feeding readiness. (POFRAS score >30)